Opción, Año 34, Especial No.15 (2018): 1045-1070 ISSN 1012-1587/ISSNe: 2477-9385 Traditional Festive Culture of Tuva: Semantics and Transformation Shenne B. Mainy1 1Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Natalya C. Damba2 2Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Shenne Y. Kuzhuget3 3Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Aniela B. Ondar4 4Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Chochagaj N. Mongush5 5Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Choduraa N. Mongush6 6Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Syrga M. Mombey-ool7 7Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Dolaana Sh.-o. Mongush8 8Tuvan State University (667000, The Republic of Tuva, Kyzyl, ul. Lenina, 36, Russia) [email protected] Abstract In this paper, various approaches to the definition of concepts tradition, traditional culture, celebration and festive culture are explored via general scientific methods such as comparative-historical, problem-logical and systemic. As a result of the research conducted in order to determine the specificity and nature of traditional festive culture the conceptual and theoretical aspects are specified. Semiotic aspects of Tuvan holidays and folk games are revealed; the latter in the study are understood as a meaning, a means aimed at the complete reproduction, storage and transmission of the culture of the Tuvan ethnos, its semantic core. Keywords: Tradition, Celebration, Culture, Festive Culture. Recibido: 04-12--2017 Aceptado: 10-03-2018 1046 Mayni et al. Opción, Año 34, Especial No.15(2018):1045-1070 Cultura festiva tradicional de Tuva: Semántica y transformación Resumen En este artículo, se exploran varios enfoques de la definición de conceptos tradición, cultura tradicional, celebración y cultura festiva a través de métodos científicos generales como comparativo-históricos, problemático-lógico y sistémicos. Como resultado de la investigación realizada para determinar la especificidad y la naturaleza de la cultura festiva tradicional, se especifican los aspectos conceptuales y teóricos. Se revelan aspectos semióticos de las fiestas y juegos folclóricos de Tuvan; Los últimos en el estudio se entienden como un significado, un medio dirigido a la reproducción, almacenamiento y transmisión completos de la cultura de la etnia Tuvan, su núcleo semántico. Palabras clave: Tradición, Celebración, Cultura, Cultura Festiva. 1. INTRODUCTION The development of civilization in the beginning of the XXI century is characterized by complex and dialectically contradictory processes, the most important vector of which is globalization. The latter is inherent in such phenomena as cultural universalism, unification and Westernization. The other side of globalization is the desire for regionalization and localization of cultures. To identify the specificity of the culture of a particular people, it is necessary to pay attention to the regions that for centuries have created and carefully preserved original national traditions. In the Russian Federation one of Traditional Festive Culture of Tuva: 1047 Semantics and Transformation these territories is the Republic of Tuva (Tuva). Tuva is a unique region of Central Asia, distinguished by a variety of cultural traditions and provoking great interest among domestic and foreign researchers. Being the oldest population of the Asian steppes, the Tuvans have brought to our days a specific culture and outlook, in many respects archaic, as well as original traditions. The culture of the Tuvan people is characterized by a particularly pronounced national identity, a wide range of unique elements and forms, including festive culture (Aiyzhy and Mongush, 2016). Festive culture of the Tuvans is rooted in the traditional sources which remain its core and the breeding ground for development. It is a phenomenon that is complex in content, morphology and dynamics, which reflects the way of life, traditions, religious cults, the most important dates of the Tuvan ethnos history, the modern all-Russian festive calendar (Aiyzhy & Mongush, 2016b; Aiyzhy & Mongush, 2016c; Dekanova, 2009). One of the main elements of traditional festive culture, helping to preserve the national and cultural identity of any people and develop a spiritual connection between the generations, is folk games. Natural conditions, features of the historical development of the Tuvan people gave its games a national identity and made them original, different from the games of other ethnic groups. However, till now the folk games played during Tuvan holidays and national celebrations - their history, development and transformation, semantics - remain little or insufficiently studied field of traditional culture. 1048 Mayni et al. Opción, Año 34, Especial No.15(2018):1045-1070 Thus, the relevance of the work is related to the need to study traditional festive culture which is a part of the cultural core of the Tuvan people and contributes to the preservation of its national identity. The aim of the research is to reveal the specificity of the traditional festive culture of the Tuvan people as a special element of the cultural heritage that promotes the development of the national culture. 2. METHODOLOGY The research used general scientific methods as: comparative- historical, problem-logical and systemic. The specifics of the research determined the application of such a method as typological one which made it possible to determine the features of traditional festive culture. On the basis of the historical and cultural method the temporal patterns of the development of folk games in traditional festive culture and the correlation of historical events with the cultural context are also revealed. The appeal to the structural and functional method made it possible to reveal the peculiarities of the Tuvan festive culture, as well as the structure of the folk game in the interconnection of its elements and functions. There was also used a descriptive method represented by such approaches as collection, processing and interpretation of the material, as well as a semantic method that reveals the features of the sign nature of folk games. Traditional Festive Culture of Tuva: 1049 Semantics and Transformation 3. DATA, ANALYSIS, AND RESULTS Identification of the essence of the concept of traditional festive culture leads to a comprehension of its basic definitions, because the meaning of this or that definition determines the process of culturological reflection. A significant number of works of great theoretical and practical importance is devoted to the issue of tradition and traditional culture (Arutyunov, 1989; Ikonnikova, 1987). It is noteworthy that most authors understand the generally accepted forms and ways of life activity, which differ in stability, repeatability and are transmitted from generation to generation, under the traditions. From the culturological point of view traditional culture was considered by (Kostina, 2009). She defines the concept of traditional culture as a culture that reproduces such a subject of historical action as a collective personality. For a person of this type, the most characteristic feature is the identification of oneself with a social group, all the representatives of which are united by common cultural ties and mechanisms of life. In such societies, called traditional or pre- industrial, collectivist social ideas dominate, presupposing strict observance of traditional norms of behavior and excluding the possibility of individual freedom manifestation (Kostina, 2009). A special place in traditional culture is a holiday and festive culture. To make a complete definition of the concept of a holiday is an extremely difficult task. In the scientific literature, there are a number of interpretations of this concept, but all of them, as a rule, reflect only 1050 Mayni et al. Opción, Año 34, Especial No.15(2018):1045-1070 one or several aspects of the holiday. Analyzing various definitions of the concept of a holiday, we can note the characteristics that are somehow mentioned in the descriptions of the festive culture. The Big Explanatory Dictionary on Cultural Studies defines a holiday as a day or days of celebration, established in honor of or the memory of someone or something. A holiday is an antithesis to everyday life, ordinary life, a specifically short-lived form of human existence. Particular importance in the holiday is acquired by its aesthetic component: sensual-emotional richness of content, conciseness, expressiveness, alogism, entertainment, elements of carnival, and theatricalization. All these qualities relate the holiday with art, but they do not identify them. The holiday is like a border zone between real life and artwork (Kononenko, 2003). From the above definitions of holiday it follows that the game features of the holiday are important since the concepts of holiday and game are synonymous, it is difficult to imagine a holiday outside the game character. Kulyashova (2007) considered the holiday as a way of preserving traditional culture. Holidays - the most ancient and constantly reproducible element of culture which in some periods of history can